Page 63 of Frost and Death
“Relax, it’s only a blanket,” he says.
I nod silently, too tired to fight him and grateful the night is shielding me from his scrutiny.
But Jerrick lowers to the floor, and when he faces me, the damn moon grants us enough light to see each other.
I blink away my tears as he studies me closely, the woolen blanket granting me heat. I want to relax, but I can’t with him analyzing my every move. I grunt and wiggle, trying to find a way to hide my eyes.
Jerrick shifts closer, combing loose strands of my silver-blonde hair away from my face and forcing me to halt.
I want to revolt, but his touch is warm and tender.
“I’m not here to hurt you,” Jerrick whispers.
I scoff. “Not here to hurt me?”
My eyes flash with fury only to be met by his own.
Jerrick withdraws, shifting himself into a comfortable position as he exhales an exhausted command. “Sleep, Frostbite.”
Frost escapes from my fingertips, winter beaming on the light air that expands from my lips.
I wish I could stop sprinting away, but I break through the courtyards, and I keep hurrying beyond my home.
A kiss plants itself in my core, blossoming into more swirls of ice, which drifts outwardly from each step that touches the semi frozen grass.
Wind blows my hair out of my face as I come to a hard stop at the lake, relief flooding me.
I marvel in awe as frost from my feet hardens the lake.
CRACK!
Dread anchors me down as the cracking noise continues more harshly—more brutally—more violently.
CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!
“NO. Please. STOP!” I plead.
“Frostbite, wake up!”a voice screams.
I blink awake to meet the man leaning close to me.
My kidnapper.
My enemy.
I try to push him away, shrieking from moving my damned right arm.
“Easy,” Jerrick says as I scan my surroundings, seeing I am still in the cave.
The wool blanket feels constrictive with Jerrick holding my side. My brows furrow at his proximity, hating that he saw me in my most vulnerable state.
I hide my torment. But mostly in avoidance of his stupidly beautiful eyes that are the same color as my own.
“Do youhaveto be next to me?”
“Well, youdidask.” He smirks.
“I did not!”
